Portugal humiliate North Korea; France's squad rebels

North Koreans finally got a chance to watch a World Cup match live on television today as their team took on Portugal. If dictator Kim Jong-il had hoped to instill national pride in his country's team, he was probably sorely disappointed. Portugal's national team trounced North Korea, eliminating them from the competition, with a 7-0 victory. It seemed everyone from the Portugal side had a celebration in the tournament in South Africa -- from Simao Sabrosa to Hugo Almeida; Tiago to Raul Meireles. Substitute Liedson scored and Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been scoreless in international competition since 2008's European Championship, knocked one in in the 87th minute.

North Korea has one more match to play, but cannot advance to the second round after two losses. Portugal is now second in Group G, behind Brazil and the fourth team in the group, Ivory Coast, is trailing in third. The top two teams of each group advance to the knock-out rounds.

Meanwhile, players on France's team refused to train on Sunday in protest of Manager Raymond Domenech's decision to expel striker Nicolas Anelka after the team was defeated 2-0 by Mexico. France was a finalist for the last cup in 2006, but will need nearly a miracle win with many points over South Africa to stay alive.

After Portugal's performance Monday against North Korea, nothing is impossible.